Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Hogan Gidley, who served as Mike Huckabee's communications director and then Rick Santorum's spokesman, is ready to pick up the phone for Huck.

[Gidley] said that he planned to make calls this week to friends in the Romney campaign to vouch for the man he said would be “an outstanding pick.”

“The way the news cycle is now, the vice presidency is more high-profile than it used to be, and you need to have someone who’s vetted and doesn’t have any major surprises,” Gidley said. “I think one of the reasons to pick Mike Huckabee is that he’s done it before. He’s been vetted, he’s good on the stump, he’s great on a debate stage, he’s inspiring, he was a governor, he energizes the base.”

Gidley noted that in addition to bringing an extensive grass-roots network that would be “a force to be reckoned with” if activated, Huckabee would boost Romney’s outsider appeal as a former governor who built an impressive record working with an overwhelmingly Democratic state legislature.

“I know he loves the radio and he loves FOX News, but that kind of stuff doesn’t drive Governor Huckabee,” Gidley said. “He’s a Christian, and he’s had to answer the call several times to run for office, and it wasn’t always the convenient time. Quite frankly, it was never convenient.”